Department for Communities and Local Government

Waste Disposal

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support his Department provides to local authorities who wish to retain weekly general waste collections.

Kris Hopkins: Labour’s legacyThe last Labour Government had a policy of actively pushing fortnightly bin collections and hitting hard-working families with new bin charges. Their ‘Household Waste Prevention Policy Side Research Programme’ advocated “collection limitations in terms of rubbish bin size or the interval between collections”, and sought to “nationalise this policy among local authorities”. Cutting weekly rubbish collections was not a locally-led initiative, but an explicit Whitehall mission pursued with the zeal of a convert.Legislation in 2005 allowed the introduction of bin fines for minor breaches of complex and confusing bin rules; further legislation in 2008 watered down councils’ legal duties to collect rubbish. Guidance issued in 2005 advised town halls that councillors should be bullied to stop them opposing the axing of collections or proposing to restore weekly collections. It also recommended that cutting collections should be done after local elections – to avoid the nuisance of democratic opposition. The Government funded the covert imposition of “bin brother” microchips into families’ bins. The 2009 Pre-Budget Report made clear that a further wave of bin cuts were being planned. In short, the “Town Hall Talibin” doubled council tax and halved bin collections.We disagree. This Government believes that households deserve a frequent and comprehensive rubbish and recycling service in return for the £122 a month in council tax that a typical household pays (Band D), especially given the typical refuse collection service only costs councils £6 to £7 per month to provide.What we’ve doneWe have taken a series of steps to help households: · Issued the first ever Whitehall guidance on weekly bin collections, demolishing the myths that fortnightly bin collections are needed to save money or increase recycling; · Stopped the Audit Commission inspections which marked down councils who do not adopt fortnightly rubbish collections, and rejected the Audit Commission guidance which advocated fortnightly collections (Waste Management: The Strategic Challenge and Waste Management Quick Guide). · Abolished the Local Area Agreements and National Indicator 191 imposed by Whitehall which created perverse incentives to downgrade waste collection services; · Scrapped the Whitehall requirement for municipal Annual Efficiency Statements, which allowed a reduction in the frequency of a household rubbish collection service to qualify as a “valid efficiency” and allowed revenue from bin fines to classed as a “cashable efficiency gain”; · Scrapped the imposition of eco-towns which would have had fortnightly bin collections and/or bin taxes as part of the “eco-standards”; · Safeguarded weekly collections for 6 million households through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme as well as championing innovation and best practice; · Supported over 40 innovative reward schemes to back recycling through the Weekly Collection Support Scheme (as pledged in the Coalition Agreement); · Through the Localism Act, revoked the 2008 legislation that allowed for the imposition of new bin taxes; · Issued guidance to stop the imposition of illegal ‘backdoor bin charging’ on households bins; · Stopped funding the ‘Waste Improvement Network’ which told councils to adopt fortnightly collections as best practice; · Challenged the incorrect interpretation by some bodies that European Union directives require fortnightly collections, and resisted the imposition of bin taxes by the European Union; · Removing powers of entry and snooping powers from “Binquisition” inspectors and scrapped guidance telling councils to rifle through families’ bins; · Changing building regulations to tackle ‘bin blight’; and · Changing the law through the Deregulation Bill to scrap unfair bin fines.In short, this has been a fundamentally different approach from the Labour Government: we are working with families to help them go green, but believe in proper, regular and comprehensive collections for taxpaying households.The configuration of services is complex. The attached tables, based on available estimates from WRAP, provide the most detailed information held on the breakdown of refuse and recycling collections of ‘smelly’ rubbish across councils in England.This shows that 14 million households in England have some form of weekly collection of smelly rubbish. Had the Government not taken the actions it had, weekly collections would have disappeared in England by 2015. This simple assertion can be illustrated by the extinction of weekly collections in most of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which have devolved Administrations and policies of supporting fortnightly bin collections. Indeed, in Wales, the Labour-led Welsh Government now has a policy of supporting monthly bin collections (Welsh Government, Municipal Sector Plan Part 1, March 2011 and Welsh Government, Cabinet decision, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, Additional Funding for Zero Waste Gurnos, February 2012).We have stopped the rot, but there is more to do to support weekly bin collections. Many town hall jobsworths, over-zealous NGOs and vested interests in the waste industry remain blindly obsessed with restricting bin collections as a perverse policy goal in itself, and this is reflected in the figures in the table above. Indeed, even Keep Britain Tidy – which one would think would want regular rubbish collections to keep the streets clean – has been taken over by a NGO (Waste Watch) which campaigns for fortnightly bin collections. Bin collections are not viewed as a public service – but as a policy tool to deliver other arbitrary policy goals.More to doOne option which should be considered is a minimum service standard – for example, the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 already lays down minimum service requirements for recycling, and indeed, the Public Health Act 1875 introduced a duty on local authorities to collect rubbish; this duty was enhanced by the Public Health Act 1936 obliging them to collect household waste weekly which existed until 1974.Moving forward, we are open to representations on how best to support frequent and comprehensive rubbish and recycling service; stand up for taxpayers’ interests from arbitrary state charges and taxes; and protect the local environment, public health and local amenity from the nuisance of stinking rubbish. 



Waste Collection Tables
(Word Document, 23.56 KB)

Housing: Construction

Heidi Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much of his £10 billion for housing guarantees schemes has now been paid to house builders; and how many homes have been completed.

Brandon Lewis: The Government guarantee schemes do not involve the direct payment of funds. Instead, the Government guarantees the borrowing of approved housing providers in order to reduce the risk for lenders and therefore the risk for investors in lending to house builders. This lower risk leads to borrowers paying a lower interest rate and the schemes enable them to access more finance. As this finance is also cheaper, it leaves more money for the house builders in the schemes to plough back into house building.There are two housing guarantee schemes: one to support the delivery of additional affordable homes, and one to support the delivery of large scale professionally managed purpose built accommodation for private rent. Both schemes run to 2016.The Government will guarantee up to £10 billion of housing providers’ debt through the two schemes: up to £3.5 billion of guaranteed debt is available for affordable housing, up to £3.5 billion of guaranteed debt is available for the private rented sector and up to £3 billion of guarantee capacity is held in reserve. The debt on both schemes is to be raised primarily through a delivery partner. The debt can be in the form of loans, through the European Infrastructure Fund, or through bond issuance.Under the Affordable Housing Guarantee Scheme, the Government has so far announced commitments to guarantee £633 million worth of debt for 16 housing providers, which together are expected to deliver 5,900 additional affordable homes.On 30 May 2014, the first bond of the affordable housing guarantees scheme was issued by our delivery partner, Affordable Housing Finance backed by a full faith guarantee from Department for Communities and Local Government. With Government backing, this bond achieved the lowest price for debt in the affordable housing sector’s history and supported £208 million of the £633 million of approved borrowing. We are considering further proposals for credit and expect to announce further additional borrowers shortly.Under the Private Rented Sector Guarantee scheme, the Government has been procuring a delivery partner and has been actively engaging with large borrowers interested in the scheme. We expect that a delivery partner when appointed will significantly increase access to the scheme and maximise the number of new build homes for private rent. We will be making further announcements on this scheme in due course.In addition to this, the Build to Rent Fund provides development phase finance to large-scale private rented sector developments, delivering up to 10,000 new homes for private rent and demonstrating the viability of developing and investing in private rented sector developments. Eleven deals have so far been announced to date worth £151 million, which will deliver approximately 2,000 new homes for private rent. More schemes will be announced in due course.Such institutional investment in private sector accommodation is dependent on an environment which is free of excessive regulation. Disproportionate regulation on the private rented sector, which this Government opposes, would discourage and undermine such private investment in new homes.

Travellers: Caravan Sites

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what powers his Department has made available to councils to deal with illegal Traveller sites; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: Through the Localism Act we have strengthened enforcement measures, supporting local authorities to tackle unauthorised development by those who choose to ignore planning rules. These measures include powers to deal effectively with retrospective and misleading planning applications and an increase in the maximum fine for non-compliance with a notice requiring the conditions on planning permission to be met.We have also lifted the previous Administration’s restrictions on the use of Temporary Stop Notices to enable councils to take early and effective action against unauthorised sites.Our planning policy for traveller sites, issued in March 2012, removed the last Administration’s planning guidance (Circular 01/06) which restricted the ability of councils to initiate enforcement action. We are currently consulting on, amongst other matters, whether further improvements can be made to planning policy and guidance to deter intentional unauthorised occupation of land and to assist councils faced with large unauthorised developments.https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/planning-and-travellers-proposed-changes-to-planning-policy-and-guidanceThere are a range of powers available to deal with unauthorised sites and encampments. We have reviewed those powers and in August 2013 sent all council leaders updated guidance, reminding them to act swiftly against unauthorised occupation of public and private land. This was published on our website at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampments-a-summary-of-available-powers.

Employment: Lancashire

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many (a) full-time, (b) part-time, (c) self-employed, (d) casual, (e) fixed-term or contract, (f) apprenticeship and (g) commission-only workers there are in each local authority in Lancashire.

Kris Hopkins: The Department does not collate or hold any detailed informaton relating to individual local authorities' workforces. The Office for National Statistics collates workforce information from local authorites as part of its quarterly public sector employment survey. These statistics are available on the Local Government Association website at http://www.local.gov.uk/local-government-intelligence/-/journal_content/56/10180/2991184/ARTICLE.

Social Rented Housing: Liverpool

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of rent arrears accrued by each registered social landlord in (a) Liverpool and (b) Liverpool Riverside in (i) 2012-13 and (ii) 2013-14.

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the rent arrears accrued by each registered social landlord in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington North constituency in each year since 2010.

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what change there has been in the level of arrears in the social housing sector since April 2013.

Brandon Lewis: The Global Accounts of Housing Providers, published by the Homes and Communities Agency, has estimated that rent arrears were 5.1% in 2009-10, 5.1% in 2010-11, 4.8% in 2011-12 and 4.8% in 2012-13. These figures are for private registered providers of social housing (primarily housing associations). Data for 2013-14 will be available in Spring 2015. My Department does not centrally hold arrears information on individual housing associations. Figures on local authority social housing rent arrears can be found on my Department’s website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-data (for up to 2012-13). The Homes and Communities Agency also publishes quarterly reports based on a survey of larger providers. This reported that rent arrears were 4% at the end of 2013-14. Their latest report states: “Most providers (91%) continue to report that the current level of arrears, rent collection and voids are within or outperforming their business plans” (Quarterly Survey of Private Registered Providers 2014-15, Quarter 1); the reports paint a broad picture of stability in income collection. In this context, the claims previously made by HM Opposition about the effects of the removal of the spare room subsidy were unfounded. The removal of the spare room subsidy is estimated to save £490 million of taxpayers' money in Great Britain in 2013-14, reducing the housing benefit bill and helping pay off the budget deficit left by the last Administration. The measure also encourages the more effective use of social housing, by addressing the under-occupation of family homes.

Housing: Energy

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the average standard assessment procedure energy rating score of new build homes was in each quarter for which figures are available since April 2010.

Stephen Williams: The table below lists the average energy rating scores for new dwellings in England over time: Average2009 Q178.62009 Q279.32009 Q379.92009 Q480.22010 Q180.22010 Q280.82010 Q380.32010 Q481.72011 Q182.32011 Q280.22011 Q380.02011 Q480.32012 Q180.82012 Q280.72012 Q380.32012 Q480.92013 Q180.92013 Q281.22013 Q381.32013 Q481.52014 Q181.4Note: ‘New dwellings’ will include conversions and change of use, as well as new build.The average scores will fluctuate by quarter, as they will be skewed by the profile of the particular housing stock being developed in that quarter, for example, the relative proportion of new build vs. conversions; the relative sizes of the dwellings; relative structures; differences in construction materials; types of design and the individual heating/lighting/windows in each dwelling. Notwithstanding those quarterly fluctuations, there is clear long-term trend of improving energy efficiency.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when he expects to answer Question No. 207861, tabled by the right hon. Member for Leeds Central on 2 September 2014.

Kris Hopkins: Parliamentary Question 207861 was answered on 10 September 2014, Official Report, Column 637W.

Home Office

Public Spaces Protection Orders

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken in line with the coming into force of the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 towards the standardisation of community protection notices and public space protection orders; and what additional finance has been made available to fund the implementation of the Act.

Norman Baker: The Government published statutory guidance on 21 July 2014 for the police, local councils, social landlords and others on the use of new anti-social behaviour powers in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and POlicing Act 2014, including community protection notices and public spaces protection orders. The Government has moved away from the old, 'top-down', directive approach of the past, and it is working closely with agencies to help them make best use of the guidance and put victims at the heart of their response to anti-social behaviour. The statutory guidance is available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/332839/StatutoryGuidanceFrontline.pdfNo additional funding is available for the implementation of the Act. However, the six new anti-social behaviour powers are simpler and more flexible than the existing powers they will replace. They will allow the police, local councils and other to act quickly and better protect victims and communities blighted by anti-social behaviour.

Antisemitism

Mrs Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to address the recent increase in anti-Semitism; and if she will make a statement.

Norman Baker: The UK Government takes all forms of hate crime, including anti-Semitism, very seriously and our cross-Government hate crime action plan includes specific actions to tackle anti-Semitism.Police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have recently been issued with new guidance for dealing with hate crimes, which includes advice for dealing with anti-Semitic incidents and how to monitor and deal with community tensions. In light of the recent reported rise in incidents, we are working with the police to engage with Jewish community Security Trust, to monitor tensions and respond to emerging issues, whilst providing reassurance and safety advice. We are encouraging anyone who is a victim of a hate crime or subject to anti-Semitic abuse or attack to report the incident to the police, so that the offenders can be dealt with appropriatley.The Home Office also sits on the cross-Government Working Group to tackle anti-Semitism. We will continue to liaise with the Group to monitor the issue.

Antisemitism

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been victims of anti-Semitic abuse which was reported to the police since January 2013.

Norman Baker: The Home Office only collects the number of offences recorded by police that are motivated by hostility to the following: race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and gender identity. The Association of Chief Police Officers record the number of anti-Semitic hate crimes (rather than abuse) recorded by police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Not all instances of abuse will result in a crime being recorded and the figures include all types of crime(for example assault and criminal damage). The latest figures for the period from April 2012 to March 2013 show that 385 anti-Semitic hate crimes were recorded.

Drugs

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 112W, what progress has been made on the review by an expert panel of the UK's response to new psychoactive substances announced on 12 December 2013.

Norman Baker: I am currently considering the expert panel's report on the new psychoactive substances review with the Home Secretary, together with other relevant Government departments and thier executive agencies. The Government will respond to the expert panel's report and its recommendations shortly.

Theft: Cumbria

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many  (a) thefts and (b) attempted thefts from vehicles have been (i) reported to and (ii) attended by the police in each local authority in Cumbria in each of the last five years.

Norman Baker: The information requested is not available centrally. The Home Office only collects the number of offences recorded by the police, and does not collect data on the number reported to the police or attended by them.

Domestic Violence

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many domestic violence incidents have been reported to the police in the last 12 months; and in how many such cases the police (a) took no further action, (b) charged perpetrators with a criminal offence and (c) secured a prosecution.

Norman Baker: In 2012-13, the most recent year for which we have this information, there were 838,026 incidents of domestic abuse, which covers both physical and non-physical abuse, recorded by the police. Data for incidents in which the police took no further action are not collected by the Home Office. The latest data from the Crown Prosecution Service show that the volume of domestic violence referrals from the police rose to 103,569 in 2013-14 from 2012-13 which is the highest level since CPS recording began. 72,905 (70.4% of these referrals) were charged, the highest volumes and proportions since CPS recording began in 2007-8. The volume of prosecutions completed in 2013-14 rose to 78,071 - a rise of 7,369 prosecutions(10.4%) from 2012-13. The volume of convictions reached 58,276 - a rise of 5,727 convictions (10.9%) since 2012-13. In September 2013, the Home Secretary commissioned Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary to undertake a comprehensive review on how the police deal with domestic violence and abuse because she was concerned that the response is inadequate.Their report, published in March 2013, exposed significant failings, including unacceptable variations in charging perpetrators of domestic abuse with criminal offences. In response to that report, the Home Secretary established a National Oversight Group, which she is chairing, to drive delivery against HMIC’s recommendations. The Home Secretary also wrote to chief constables making it clear that every police force must have a domestic abuse action plan in place by September 2014.

HM Treasury

Public Sector: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive on ensuring adequate levels of funding for public services in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: Treasury Ministers maintain regular contact with Northern Ireland Executive Ministers on a range of matters of mutual interest. The Government’s position is that Northern Ireland is funded fairly and that the Executive have sufficient resources to support public services to at least the levels in place across the rest of the United Kingdom.  Indeed, the most recently published statistics demonstrate again that identifiable spending on public services in Northern Ireland remains over £2000 per head higher than the UK average. It is for the Northern Ireland Executive to determine how to allocate their budgets in line with local priorities.